


current concern

by shizuumi151



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drabble, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Male Friendship, i ship them so hard but this can be read 100 percent platonically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 18:38:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17350481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shizuumi151/pseuds/shizuumi151
Summary: Bokuto doesn't have a wide vocabulary, and Akaashi only ever wants to help.





	current concern

_It's no good if you exacerbate the issue thinking like that._

 

 

" _Agaashee_..."

Bokuto moans into his desk, head lodged between his crossed arms. Akaashi affords a glance up at him in a hum. While some of the third-years from volleyball visit his classroom occasionally during lunch time, Bokuto particularly likes to come over and commandeer the other side of his desk, staying just to catch up or spend time with him. Akaashi's never complained about this tendency.

He swallows the last mouthful of his pork floss bun before speaking. "You seem troubled, Bokuto-san."

Bokuto groans into his arms some more. Kicks his legs a bit beneath the desk. A show-off to the bitter end, he doesn't like admitting his weaknesses. Akaashi's familiar with this.

"...How d'you write 'concern'?"

Akaashi barely catches the question, given how Bokuto's mumbling into his sleeves. He frowns for a bit.

"Concern?"

"Uh-huh." Bokuto's face finally pops out. His brows knotted, expression scrunched in a determined little scowl. "How d'you write it?"

Akaashi doesn't even blink before he takes out his mechanical pencil, some notepaper from his tray. He writes the characters for 'concern' in neat handwriting. He rotates the paper and slides it to just above Bokuto's arms. Which are still crossed. Bokuto looks down his nose, pouting at the paper like a sub-par suitor, or a mediocre flavour of bread left in the canteen.

"...See, you're smart, Akaash'. I dunno how to write that." Bokuto's head buries back into the nest of his arms. "You're all smart and I'm not."

Ah, Akaashi thinks. It's one of those things then.

"You're plenty smart, Bokuto-san," he says matter-of-factly. Seeing how the praise gently rears Bokuto's head, making him more receptive, he promptly moves on to fact-finding. "What makes you concerned about writing out characters?"

"But see, _that's_ the thing, right!" Bokuto immediately sits up, back straight like a rod was shoved down the back of his uniform, his fists resolute and clenched on the desk now. "I wasn't before, but then, yeah? There was this counsellor-assembly-talk-thing with third-years, and stuff about how people with sports scholarships need to watch their grades to keep doing sports stuff. You get that, right?"

"I do," Akaashi assures.

"Right! At first I thought, I'm fine, I'm passing my classes, volleyball's going great, I don't needa worry. Life's going awesome, I'm doing awesome! But then -- _then_ on the blackboards and stuff? My teachers write down these words that I don't know how to read! And I never use 'em either!"

"Oh. I see."

"Yeah! But like, it's kinda always been like that, y'know? When the teachers say stuff, I know what they mean." Bokuto talks with the bulk of his body, his arms on the move as his hands wave and twist and pose with his words. "So when they write stuff down I already got it, 'cause they already said it out loud in an easier way, yeah?"

Akaashi nods. "That makes sense."

"Right! But after that counsellor-talk-thing, I started noticing how much I can't read, and it's really annoying!" He clutches his head, creases in his brow, frustration vivid on his face. "Like, there's so much I don't know! I'm a total moron..."

There are a few routes he could take here. By and large, it's either playing aloof or feeding Bokuto's ego some. In a blink, Akaashi processes the possibilities and gauges the expected utility each outcome will bring.

But oftentimes his own heart bleeds into the thought process. This time he lets it, though, and instinct guides his decision.

"You're no moron, Bokuto-san. Far from it," he insists. Even as Bokuto looks up at him, he continues. "You couldn't be our ace if you were. Not recognising some complicated words doesn't change that."

"Y'think so...?" Bokuto says, a glimmer of hope in his voice. His hair's still drooped though, and his pout's still coming strong. "I still feel kinda dumb about it..."

Akaashi frowns a bit, but not out of disappointment from a lack of progress. The plan to cheer Bokuto up here naturally needs a follow-up. Even if he is goofy, absent-minded, and full of himself, Bokuto's always better out of his lows and in his highs, in top form. The rush Akaashi gets when he is just proves it.

"Why don't you practise, then?" he says. "Like with your spikes. If you do enough practise, you'll become the best at it."

"I know. I wanna," Bokuto mutters. "But I always get distracted while trying to memorise stuff, or do dictations. Or I get the meanings mixed up. Or I just forget..."

Akaashi hums, taking note. Bokuto's already tried working on his weaknesses himself. Of course he would.

He rolls his face along the desk, from one cheek to the other, thoroughly dejected. Akaashi goes along to the next course of action, which seems abundantly clear to him.

"I could help you," he offers. "If you're more exposed to complex words, you'll retain them better."

Akaashi asks himself so often if Bokuto's better now, or if he's just okay. When Bokuto's eyes perk up, he already knows.

"Hey, hey, hey! That's a good idea!" Bokuto sits up in a bright and wide grin. Just as quick, though, he cocks his head. "But how'll that help me write them out if you just say 'em, though?"

"I'll text you the characters," Akaashi responds, the plan already in his head. It'd involve changing the keyboard options on Bokuto's phone, but he could introduce that later. "If we're face-to-face, I can write out any you're curious about. If you'd like more dedicated study sessions, we could arrange that too."

"Ohh! Like a real, bonafide tutor, huh!" Bokuto says in awe. "And you're as smart as they get, so I'll catch up in no time!" Posture straight and broad in his chair, he beams like a lighthouse. "Man, Akaashi, have I told you you're the best?"

"Not as of late," Akaashi says. It'd been less than a day since he called his tosses the best, though. "You should head back to your classroom now."

He watches Bokuto blink owlishly, looking around for the clock on the wall before he gawks at the minute hand and rushes out the room. At the sound of the bell, the scrape of chair legs across the floor, Akaashi pulls out his phone in a quick text to Bokuto, writing out the characters for the word 'concern'.

Class resumes when the teacher comes in. It's mathematics, and Akaashi remembers as he pencils in the answer to a pop quiz question that Bokuto struggles with it especially, and thinks about incorporating it alongside their vocabulary study. He's known for a long time, but it's heartening that someone as brilliant as Bokuto, both on the court and as a friend, is far from perfect. Which makes his brilliance shine all the brighter.

When class ends and the teacher leaves, Akaashi feels his phone buzz. He checks to find a message from Bokuto, reading:

**_i won't B now that i got you teaching me!! akaashi-sensei!!!!_ **

Akaashi blinks twice reading the text. Air leaves his nose in a burst. Just a short puff.

The smile's subtle in the stretch of his lip as he pockets his phone, noting to text back when class ends. He'll have to tell him to type properly.

 

 

_Did I use the word "exacerbate" correctly?_

_Yes, you did._

**Author's Note:**

> based off the chapter where bokuto talks to yachi w akaashi beside him + bokuto's current (tho now probably a lil outdated) concern is how to spell concern (don't blame him tho - kanji's a bitch)


End file.
